took and mixed in with three measures of flour until
all of it was leavened." Matthew 13:33
Vatican Visitations to Sisters
Originally published in E-Leaven, July 13, 2009, Issue 12
Editors’ Note: The Vatican visitation
of US women’s religious
communities, launched in March, is suddenly Big News in the NEW YORK
TIMES. (See the July 2, 2009 article,
“U.S. Nuns Facing Vatican Scrutiny” By Laurie Goodstein.) Former
Leaven Board member Betty Voss, BVM, has kindly shared notes from the official
Vatican visitor’s (named Mother Clare) meeting with her community’s
president Mary Ann Zollmann.
“When Mother Clare first came in I shook her hand and said I was happy to meet her face to face, having seen the video. She replied, ‘We have met, but you wouldn’t remember me.’ Then she recounted a situation in 2003 when as president of LCWR (Leadership Council of Women Religious, the group which represents 95% of US sisters), I was invited to attend a conference of CMSWR (the smaller and more conservative group of religious women). Toward the end of the conference the president of CMSWR asked if I would like to address the group before the conference ended. The conference was held in Belleville, IL in the shadow of the St. Louis arch, so I used that image. I identified the two legs of the arch. In their parallel and graceful beauty, they provide the creative tension that allows the arch to stand. I stressed diversity and dialogue. I was amazed at Clare’s reiteration of a talk given 6 years ago.
“The first step in the process of this visitation was to ask each member of the congregation three questions. What do you see as the spirit of Mary Frances Clarke (their foundress)? How do we live out these characteristics today? What are our hopes for the future? In this way we could make the visitation process an opportunity for growth and transformation.
“I listed aspects of the spirit of Mother Clarke: her deep love of God and all in God, her passion for doing the will of God, her willingness to move beyond comfortable boundaries - and gave examples of each from the life and letters of Mary Frances Clarke. She described how she anguished over the struggle to receive approval of the rule by Rome. We both then smiled at the irony that now indeed being Pontifical placed the congregation in this “visitation” process.
“I then gave examples of Clarke’s passion for the poor, her love and affection for each sister, her collaborative style. One example was the situation where Bishop Loras advised that the school be divided in two groups, the ‘select’ school - those who could pay - and those who were nonpaying. She closed the school rather than comply and create a two class system. Finally, through further dialogue and negotiation with the bishop the school was opened as one school. Kitty Lawlor, BVM historian, in researching the foundress’ life, said she realized that she had met her over and over again in the BVMs she lived with through the years.
“Our sisters demonstrate integrity by their public commitment to national issues like Immigration Reform and a national budget focused on the needy, peace and environmental issues. Some sisters have lost jobs in the institutional church because of their stand on women – Mother Clare is well aware of these.
“We were asked to submit names of BVMs as nominees to become ‘visitators’ in the 3rd phase of this process. Of each a profession of faith/oath was required. It stated, ‘moreover I adhere with religious submission of will and intellect to the teachings which either the Roman pontiff or the college of bishops enunciate when they exercise their authentic magesterium even if they do not intend to proclaim these teachings by definitive act.’ We sent the invitation to forty-eight BVMs who had served as elected president, vice present or regional representatives.
“Responses were requested by June 1. No one responded positively to the invitation, so no name will be submitted. Invariably the responses were: ‘I can not with integrity take the oath.’ ‘It would be a violation of integrity to take the oath.’ Mother Clare’s response was: ‘From everything that you have said about your foundress and your spirit, I would be surprised if you could take the oath.’
“I felt a real understanding on her part – not saying that she agreed, but understanding and admiration in the context of who we are. She then asked for examples of points that our congregation would have difficulty with. I used the examples identified by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith in their assessment of LCWR. While not true of every member in the congregation, one area would be women’s ordination, an issue symbolic of inviting women to full participation at the ecclesial table. The second is identifying homosexuality as in and of itself defective. Jesus welcomes all to the table. The third referred to John Paul II’s statement regarding the Catholic church’s primacy as a means of salvation.
“Mother Clare is an actively engaged listener. A half hour into my presentation she said: ‘What I’m hearing is that there is tremendous trust in your congregation - a profound trust in God and in one another.’ I had not used the word trust once in my presentation.”
Editorial Musings
So what do we make of this? Kenneth Briggs, the author of Double Crossed: Uncovering the Catholic Church’s Betrayal of American Nuns, (Doubleday Religion, 2006) said of the various investigations: “It’s an effort to bring about a re-establishment of a very traditional, very conservative set of standards for what convent life is supposed to be.”
Rome, once again, seems intent on going after the good people—they don’t seem nearly as concerned about pedophiles, arms dealers or human traffickers. Is it possible that the women involved will turn Cardinal Franc Rodé’s heavy-handed order to investigate into an opportunity for growth and graciousness? And after Mother Clare’s visits (which at least by this account seem courteous and understanding), what will become of her report? Will it vanish into Vatican secrecy, or be dramatically changed? If sisters are ordered back to habits and convents, will they defect? Their integrity, as mentioned earlier, is admirable. Many of these sisters have served the church for over 50 years. Asking them now to take a loyalty oath, in order to participate in a project which wasn’t their idea, seems bizarre. Surely their loyalty belongs more to their community than to some distant Roman office. Could arrogant, clueless officials have unleashed a PR dilemma that will return to haunt them? Many U.S. Catholics have a favorite sister - friend, colleague, teacher, nurse, attorney or spiritual director. If push comes to shove, will we rise up to support them?